


Misfits Meta

by merrymelody



Category: Misfits (TV 2009)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 17:02:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10644225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrymelody/pseuds/merrymelody
Summary: Since the fandom's kind of dead, thought this would be a decent place to post meta on the series, S1-3.





	1. S1

Just got into this after they released the boxset on Sky, seven years after the original run, with a fandom that’s pretty dead, but for the three people out there who might find it of interest, here’s some Misfits meta. 

 

 **Season 1, episode 1**

Your basic pilot establishing the group. 

Kelly and Nathan are the first to get any real background, but the characteristics of everyone are pretty well-established: 

• Simon’s the details man, recognising Gary’s cap, which leads them to discover his body. His character was probably reworked more than anyone – they went from writing him as an eventual villain to establishing him as a superhero; but the faultlines of this almost create a more interesting character for it all. 

Here we can see he’s visibly ‘off’, his crime being attempted arson as opposed to the pettier charges the others got; but his reactions are also disparate from others. Alisha’s powers cause him to reveal his sexual issues are…interesting; and post Tony’s death, he’s the only one to react calmly. Nathan and Alisha look terrified and tearful, Kelly and Curtis seem mute with shock, but Simon interjects practically: ‘…If there’s no body, there’s no crime.’

• Kelly’s the group mum – she’s the first to notice emotional reactions and ask the parole worker if he’s alright after noticing his twitch.

• Nathan’s the oblivious one, missing the blood streaked all over the walls. 

There’s a bit of foreshadowing for his inevitable power with the comment his mum makes about how ‘nothing hurts you’. Although I’d disagree there, Nathan can dish it out, but can’t take it. I think it’s mistaking a lack of shame for a lack of injury – if anything, he’s the most defensive, second only to Kelly. He’s just not defensive about stuff that would embarrass normal people. 

• Curtis and Alisha are less fleshed out at this point, although Curtis is established as being the moral compass of sorts right away – he laughs at Nathan’s joke about Simon and plays foosball with him, but when Nathan’s gross about the girls, Curtis is quick to shut it down (‘Do they have a say? Prick.’) 

• I feel sorry for Tony the parole worker – clearly he had a temper, but tbh, no one in this series has great impulse control, and all the authority figures are so corrupt that he seems comparatively calm. 

Relationships-wise, the initial pairings of Curtis/Alisha and Nathan/Kelly are established, and while they may not have been planning Simon/Alisha at this point, we see the effect of her lust powers on him, introducing the idea. 

Simon at this point is very definitely an other from the rest, but we also see the beginning of his and Nathan’s strange little friendship.  
Simon talks to Nathan more than anyone else, perhaps because of his need to be ‘seen’ – he’s desperate for attention, even if it’s negative; which is also one of Nathan’s defining traits, so they feed off each other instantly. 

Nathan is far more confident, but we see a similar pattern with his interactions with the other guys, where he tries verbal attacks and provocation to get some kind of reaction (blowing a kiss at Gary, teasing Curtis) but is swiftly shut down. Simon gives him an easy target, but he also reacts far more than the others and is odd enough to almost fascinate Nathan (who’s still fixating on what Simon said to Alisha even as they bury their probation worker.) 

Nathan also shares Simon’s interest in sexuality outside the heteronormative – Alisha is established as the basic embodiment of lust at this point, and it’s interestingly Nathan who’s least interested in her.  
We know this is in part because he has feelings for Kelly (much to his surprise), but he also makes less effort to speak to her than anyone else (‘Do you want to know what I did?’ ‘No.’) In part this might be because they’re too alike – Alisha is less vicious and she’s choosier about the reactions she seeks, but we know from her bottle mime that she gets off on being the centre of attention, too. (When she mimes a blowjob, Nathan is copying her, in a bit of Freudianism; as is his explanation for Gary and Tony’s disappearance.) 

**S1 Episode 2**

• Probably one of the weaker episodes, imho – there’s lot of filler to get to the granny!sex reveal, and on a rewatch, the character of Ruth reads far less sympathetically than I think was intended. (I feel like if you reverse the genders and have say, Alisha or Kelly getting banged by an old man because he misses his youth, it would be portrayed as much creepier than it is here, particularly when a lot of the relationship is her highlighting Nathan’s immaturity while they get drunk together.) 

• We also meet Nathan’s mum – again, a character who kind of suffers on a rewatch. 

You can see why she’s sympathetic even when she’s kicking her son out – we’ve already established he’s manipulative and a liar, so you can recognise why when he’s genuinely in need, she’s not willing to be fooled again. 

But she’s pretty much defined by her relationship between these two men, so there’s no decision she can really make that makes her sympathetic – she’s stuck as either pushover to her son or mean mommy choosing her new boyfriend. 

It’s a cute twist that she’s aware of Jeremy being a dog, although it’s framed as ‘well, it could be worse’ (ie. He could be a transvestite, nice.) and to be honest, opens up a can of worms, really as far as her disapproval of Nathan goes.  
When she brings up transvestites, Nathan responds ‘They’re sick perverts!’ almost instantly; and there’s this long-running theme of him referring to childhood sexual abuse (‘The IKEA paedophile! I can’t believe you don’t remember!’ or ‘When I was growing up in Ireland, if the priest left you along it’s because you were one of the ugly kids.’) that begins here that’s again, very odd to see with fresh eyes. When he says that he’s seen Jeremy naked, she retorts ‘Maybe you’ve been watching him in the showers’. 

• Simon begins his online chats with ‘shygirl18’ as well as exploring his powers. There’s a very fine line here established where we’re clear on how lonely he is (he’s listening to the video he’s shot of the group as he types; he’s the only one who offers to help Nathan with Jeremy) but also how quick he is to readdress his own lack of power by spying on the girls. 

• This sets a pattern continued in 1x4, where similarly to Nathan’s rejection here, which prompts Simon’s literal disappearance to prey upon the girls in the locker room; we see Matt’s friendship rejection is what prompts Simon to disappear, at this point physically, and touch an unconscious Kelly.

• Curtis and Alisha like each other, but he’s not afraid to call her out ‘A little light homophobia, go for it’. While they’re teasing Nathan about sleeping with Ruth, (It’s Simon, hilariously, who zeroes in instantly with his: ‘Did you enjoy it?’ comment, maybe because he also enjoys stuff outside the norm) it’s Alisha who seems most amused/disgusted that he ate her out, which is interesting.

We know from S3 that she wasn’t particularly amazed by Curtis sexually, and it’s cliché, but they do seem to be hitting the notes of ‘girls who sleep around do it for attention as much as getting off’, but that dominance of the male perspective is a weak spot for Misfits.  
There’s attempts to satisfying a female gaze at least in the filming, although that’s pretty much abandoned by S3 which is flat out male fanservice. 

I’d actually be really interested in Alisha slash – we know she enjoys sex with Simon, but we also know that because he has no real experience, she’s his ‘teacher’ and basically shows him to please her. Again, the writers’ interest is clearly not in passing the Bechdel test, but it would be fascinating to see at least one of the girls develop some kind of friendship.  
In this ep, Sally’s trying to find a weak link into the group, with an initial try at speaking to Alisha and offering her number if she needs to talk, but I’d be fascinated with an AU where she responded and the Sally/Simon plot was instead Sally/Alisha. 

**S1, episode 3**

• Another episode with dodgy implications – Alisha’s overcoming her consent issues takes the same path as Simon, where they basically learn not to force people or spy on them by falling in love and getting regular sex; which places the burden of responsibility for their behaviour on the other person rather than themselves. 

We know Simon lectures Rudy about consent in S3, but how much of that is character reboot from deciding to make him Superhoodie, and how much is organic is arguable. He witnesses Alisha using her powers on Curtis in this episode, but doesn’t intervene.  
Alisha makes a face at Curtis saying she raped him as late as 2x6, however. 

Antonia Thomas describes Alisha as spoiled and it does seem that episodes delving into her character seem to be around creating a specific role for her (spoilt brat, ex-slut, Woman in Refrigerator, girlfriend figure) rather than developing her character independent of this.  
It’s her also crime (drink driving) that’s never explored within the show – Kelly’s is dealt with in the B plot of this episode, Curtis’ is the defining moment of his life, Simon’s is emblematic of his instability and loneliness, Nathan’s foreshadows how self-destructive he is. 

Alisha’s probably the most problematic character in the first two series based on the power alone, which literalises the myth of women being responsible for men’s lust, effectively punishing her for her sexuality, which is all of course, performative – even her masturbation. 

This is especially odd in conjunction with the other characters – her power is never used on Kelly or Nathan, but Simon’s feelings for her seem to be suggested as owing in part due to her form (‘I’m being all horny and slutty!’) being worn during his first sexual experience, which prompts him to ask her out.  
Curtis it seems will provoke some kind of real learning with his comment that ‘You think because you’re beautiful you can do what you want!’ which Alisha agrees with. But instead the show takes the wellworn path of sex as a punishment, whereupon Alisha is nearly gang raped by the guys she was originally forcing herself upon; Curtis and parole worker Ben.  
This leads to Curtis/Alisha becoming a pairing, with the romantic assertation from Curtis that actually, he does like her, so she doesn’t ‘need’ to force him. (Yikes.) 

• Kelly gets further developed – she seems genuinely sorry and wanting to make amends with Jodie, and they reach some kind of détente. She’s also the only one to apologise when Simon suggests they go out, and everyone rejects him. (Maybe because he tells her: ‘I’m sorry you’re bald.’) 

• The Sally subplot continues – Simon again recognises ‘It could be Sally’ leaving them threatening messages. Rewatching, you feel sorry for both – no one is taking Simon seriously and he’s repeatedly trying to reach out on both this level and personally (‘want to come for a drink?’ ‘they treat me like I’m nobody’. I wonder if he’s almost trying to save himself by trying to form these friendships, like he’s aware of his own instability and is trying to avoid time alone) so he’s spiralling into following his own moral judgment which is…questionable; but no one’s taking Sally seriously either. 

• It’s kind of a crapsack world, but you’d think a policeman, a personal friend, would take more action than ‘Huh, so the guy disappeared after community service? And his cards been used after he was reported missing? ‘kay. Maybe he ditched u, lolz.’ It gets even more ridiculous when you see that he’s supercop when it comes to finding a wrap of cocaine in a nightclub; or that he disappears altogether in S2.

 **S1, episode 4**

• Really strong episode for Curtis. 

Contrasting his crime with others is interesting – he’s guilty, but you can’t help but sympathise. Everyone else’s crime is on some level dangerous to others (attempted arson, stapling Beverly’s hand, repeated drink driving, assault) but Curtis' is self-destructive, and out of character from a lifetime of training.  
He also had far more to lose with his athletics ban – furthering the theme of time, since for an athlete, it makes the difference between career and failure, and it’s pointed out that his punishment was disproportionate in comparison to the others (who all have ABSOs). 

• It creates a fascinating parallel with Nathan, in the last timeloop – Nathan’s been the one more developed and therefore sympathetic prior to this, but here we contrast their pasts and shift sympathies to Curtis in some ways. 

Like Alisha, he appears to be surrounded by a supportive family (Kelly and Simon’s family are probably the least mentioned overall, perhaps because they tend to take a more care-taking role themselves.) whereas this introduction to Nathan’s dad explains in some part his desperate attention seeking; but that makes Curtis’ fall from grace more bitter – he has people to let down. 

• We also see how Nathan is offered every chance to avoid self-destruction but is intent on it (his dad offers to pay for the damage, the manager is clearly not intent on prosecution until Nathan assaults him.) whereas Curtis is desperately avoiding it, but finds it inevitable. The policeman’s disappointment in arresting him is a real kick in the guts in particular. 

• The meetings between the Misfits is also cute, as well as the inclusion of Tony and Sally, and sketches who they become very neatly – Curtis taking the time to give Kelly his coat, his encounter with Nathan (‘Prick!’), Kelly and Alisha’s inevitable slide towards arrest (Kelly with the guy who jacks cars, and Alisha escaping arrest for cocaine use); and finally, Simon’s isolation. 

• I can’t not read Simon here as at least bi if not gay, and closeted – the bringing the guy a drink thing is painful to watch. It neatly parallels the scene with Nathan: ‘Are you asking me out on a date?’, which then parallels Alisha’s identical reaction in 2x1 to his asking her out. 

• The timeline of Curtis’ escape leaving the others dead is also great – you get the sense of how strongly and swiftly the characters have been developed and relationships formed, that you can see why Curtis is willing to take one for the team despite them still being near strangers; and how visibly altered the Nathan in that timeline is (with a bit more foreshadowing for his power reveal as the only one to survive Tony’s attack.) 

• ETA after S3, I kinda like this episode even more, it’s sort of the counterpoint to the romantic determinism of the Simon and Alisha plot. 

Curtis basically makes this sacrifice for his friends (and a small, undramatic one at that – he’s really just taking responsibility for his own mistake, it’s only the audience and him that realises how big the consequences are if he takes the easier route) and the only small change he ends up making is to improve Sam’s life, with no benefit to himself.  
(Course, the next episode undercuts that by the subplot of him and Sam then staying together, but he doesn’t know that then.)  
There’s no ‘But this is the way destiny has to be!’, or baroque sacrifices, it’s just ‘what small change can I make so when I fuck up, the least amount of people suffer with me’.

 **Series 1, Episode 5**

• Wheels keep on turning from previous episodes in terms of the Curtis/Sam and Sally/Simon subplot. (What’s creepy is that even when Sally’s convinced Simon that she’s genuinely interested in him, he still feels the need to spy on her. It really has become a power game for both of them.) which results in Simon killing her, and his further fracturing.

• Simon and Nathan continue their pattern of on-and-off sexual harassment - last episode, Nathan was trying to ‘wank’ Simon with a litter grabber, this one he’s squealing that Simon’s ‘trying to kiss me’, calling him an ‘arsekisser’ and blowing a kiss at him. 

What’s interesting is that Simon’s begun to become more comfortable – when Nathan does the latter, he smiles affectionately, and he and Sally bond over calling Nathan a ‘twat’. 

• There’s also more hints at Nathan/Kelly: she cooks for him and asks him about his family, which he reveals under baby Finn’s power. 

• The baby bit is really cute, and I love that the baby himself decides to stop using his powers to make Nathan his dad (‘Prick!’) 

I doubt the Marnie plotline was planned in advance, but it’s a nice through-line for the character of wanting to be a father for a kid in the way he missed out on, to meeting his brother and taking a caring role with him, to Marnie; and it does seem like the baby saw some kind of softness in him initially, since there are other guys at the community centre.  
(Similarly in the tattoo episode, while Kelly’s under the influence for less time; Nathan is far more devoted to Simon than Kelly is to Vince, and Kelly’s the ‘fookin’ romantic’.) 

• A baby having mind control is creepy, maybe because it reminds me of a short story where the child basically keeps her parents and family with her forever as some kind of Sims re-enactment – not sure if the power is supposed to be limited to wanting to find a father or whether Finn could pretty much turn into the kid from ‘It’s A Good Life’, but ho hum. 

(Naturally, it’s a boy child who needs a father, and naturally the mum is pretty much proved right when she says ‘it’s like I’m not enough for him’, and naturally, the dad will of course love the baby as soon as he sees him – whether he likes it or not, apparently!) 

**Series 1, episode 6**

• I still require Alisha slash! 

Her and Rachel, man – Jessica Findley Brown would not be an outsider no matter how geeky she was. There was a vid linking the two that really worked for me, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ZPoaZrudk&t=0s). I feel like it’s more of an accidental link than planned by the writing but there’s definite parallels there; so yeah, now my headcanon is that Rachel’s deeply closeted, hence the fanatical need to convert others to Virtue so there’s no yicky temptation of other girls and their slutty sluttiness parading around. 

Alisha and Curtis don’t get much to do in this episode, although Antonia Thomas probably gets more stretch just by playing Virtue!Alisha than most of S3. 

• There’s kind of an anti-religion theme running through Misfits. It doesn’t bother me personally, but it’s interesting in light of the predestination theme it concurrently plays with. More on that in the S3 recap. 

• Anyway, here Rachel is clearly motivated by the common issue of fixating on moral rules rather than actual principles – Virtue specifically focus on issues like banning contraception and dressing ‘modestly’ as opposed to idk, starting a food bank or giving blankets to the homeless.

• In contrast to that, you have Nathan’s speech, which, while it’s the most quoted, is actually kind of bleak too, in it’s commitment to self-destructive hedonism at all costs as the defining experience of youth. Even within Misfits, I think there’s more of a range of enjoying youth beyond that – Simon, for example, is confident and happy in later seasons, but never becomes the kind of guy who’d enjoy the ‘cocktails of class As’ and casual sex - which I guess makes it kind of neat that Nathan and Rachel destroy each other. 

• First introduction of Superhoodie, I’ve no idea if they’d planned out the plot reveal or not (the person riding the bike looks way too small to be Iwan Rheon-stunt sized) but it’s cool that, in contrast to later scenes, this is Future!Simon specifically ‘fixing’ a choice Past!Simon made.  
Also a bit of foreshadowing for the Superhoodie reveal, in that you can see his efforts focus on Alisha and Nathan, the only two he speaks to as Superhoodie, and the two characters Simon becomes closest to.

Like, it’s very touching that he steps in for later events to rescue them, but as Past!Simon literally couldn’t know of those events ahead of time, it makes it much more about this magical deus ex machina, whereas here, Past!Simon makes a decision to escape the Virtue gang and leave Nathan, and this is the first thing Future!Simon changes. 

The choice of Simon to leave Nathan is interesting, as it’s hardly the most questionable choice he ever makes – at this point, he’s killed Sally, covered up Tony’s death with the others, and creeped on the girls. Even in this episode, he’s eating pizza with a corpse while the others are in danger, and doesn’t seem to react at all to leaving Kelly with the Virtue group (as opposed to Nathan, who clearly regrets it.) 

You can recognisably identify his falling apart under the pressure of killing Sally – again, I’ve no idea how much of this characterisation was originally planned to be part of the plan for the group to kill him as the S1 finale, although the extras material seems to demonstrate a need to retcon a little by demonstrating his regret (one of the videos released is him stating that he’ll take the blame for Tony’s death in order to protect the others) – as well as how Nathan is naturally oblivious to this and determined to provoke; but it does mean that you kind of have to disregard that Simon is not only leaving Nathan to the Virtue group, but also the others. 

It’s definitely a choice that really gets to Simon – they revisit it with his return to the roof at the episode climax, as well as in S2x1, where it’s literally the first thing Nathan says to Simon (‘What was that thing on the roof?!’ ‘I tried to save you.’).

The need for Nathan to take a leadership role rather than clown does mean a bit of contrivance as to Simon’s then reappearing in the narrative (why does he wait on the roof doing nothing for so long? The filming and blocking are also really hamfisted here, like I've seen people suggesting Simon pushes Rachel off the roof, which I don't buy personally just in terms of how the camera work seems to imply he's near the door when Nathan and Rachel begin to argue; but it's a viable interpretation.) but it does lead to the ‘Save me, Barry!’ scene, so I’ll allow it. 

It also works well, considering it must be difficult treading a line from Nathan as a character who’s extremely reactive to others, not only being isolated but acting heroically, but as with the Curtis episode, the cast chemistry and the writing is strong enough that you can see why the self-sacrifice. 

The Nathan/Kelly scene is lovely, as is the frustrated ‘I thought we were friends!’ to Simon; and the scenes with these three are beautifully bookended with the establishing scene of Kelly comforting Simon where they parallel how Kelly and Simon do ‘care’ what Nathan says to them, and the scene where Simon then comforts Kelly with the DVD.

It’s also a death played entirely straight – I know one of the AV club comments noted the contrast between the earlier deaths where you feel the loss of even the minor characters; and later ones where even with major characters, it’s just ‘Ho-hum, idk, we’ll bury Alisha in a forest? Who’s Nikki, again?’ 

They cheap out a little in that Nathan's parents don't appear (and you have to really squint to buy Nathan's dad in particular buying the whole thing as a scam later) but Kelly and Simon’s reactions sell it, and you get the whole graveside convening and ‘wake’ after – I went in to the series aware of Nathan’s power, but in retrospect, it really is impressive how they pull off the reveal until the end of series, and it does sell it as a character move that he’s going in helpless. 


	2. S2

**Series 2, Episode 1**

Aw, I love this one! 

• Not much competition at this point, but Lucy’s probably the best villain so far (although I’d happily sacrifice the one shot baddies for longer arcs, I think the Virtue group could have definitely been a two-parter for example.) 

You sympathise with her, she’s not so different from Simon that you can feel sorry for him and not recognise their similiarities (when Simon’s like ‘I’m happy for the first time!’ and she’s like ‘you killed people!’ ‘Well, I didn’t say it was perfect.’) 

It’s fascinating to see a psychological villain. IDK how much Lucy watched them before she imitates them (she’s clearly unaware of their powers) but it’s cool to see how she works to turn everyone against each other but still keeping them believable – Lucy!Alisha’s ‘I’m being all slutty and horny!’, getting revenge on Nathan by appearing as Kelly, or retaining Nathan’s viciousness when posing as him in order to further break Simon.

I kinda wanted a longer episode of her seducing them all as each other in order to mindfuck them. 

It’s also funny how each person telegraphs a tell that they’re Lucy (Alisha can touch Simon, Kelly’s casting suspicion onto Curtis, Nathan walks away from an argument) but none of them are intuitive enough (being without the real Kelly) to pick up on it until it’s too late. 

• Beginning of the end for Curtis/Alisha – while it’s the possibility of Alisha being hurt that sets Curtis against Simon (and causes Mama Bear Kelly to intervene, aww), it’s perhaps Lucy that introduces both Alisha and Simon to the possibility of viewing each other in that way. 

• Nathan and Kelly face another stumble after the sweet graveside ‘I thought I’d never see her again!’ moment.  
These two are unlucky as a pairing in terms of timing, but I think they’re not helped by their similarities. Both are defensive and it does seem like a lot of their never clicking (as much as Misfits writing being pretty shonky at times) might be down to that.  
Kelly’s power magnifies an already self-conscious nature, whereas Nathan has a viciousness when lashing out verbally that leads to Kelly then being even more reluctant to trust. (The ‘I can change’ ‘it’s who you are’ bit here kind of encompassing this.) 

• Nathan shoots himself in the foot in this episode particularly – it’s his cruelty to Lucy that leads her to appear as Kelly to him, it’s his angry comments to the real Kelly when he thinks she’s rejected him, that then damage their chances together further for at least another episode, and Simon’s finally loses it with: ‘Why should I tell you anything?’ 

• Simon's also really good in this episode - it's brilliantly done where it's very clear how unstable he still is, but also how much the others mean to him. 

The S1 episodes he's fixated on Sally as much as the group for a lot of it, and then reacting to that during the latter half; and the S3 he's pretty 'normal' which is adorable, but then leads him to basically do reaction shots to Rudy (and play psychiatrist to Curtis! :) until he goes back into Superhoodie!Destiny!Robot mode; but the beginning of S2 is great at balancing him as a guy who wants to do the right thing, but is broken enough that he'll do too much to get there. 

• You can see also how much Nathan’s reactions in particular sting him. Lucy’s appearance as a vindictive Nathan, disgusted but also gloating as s/he reveals Sally’s body (‘You’re a weird little psycho, and now everyone knows it!’) has him almost in tears; and the focus Simon has on his friendship with the group and how much it means to him, as he tells Lucy, is directly linked to Nathan in particular: ‘I just want to be your friend.’ 

• Interestingly, you do see some reciprocation from Nathan - when Lucy throws Simon to the floor, causing his head to bleed, Nathan's horrified, and nearly in tears. 

• Shaun, I thought had something more to him – here he comes off as violent enough to strangle Nathan, then later he ‘coincidentally’ gives them car keys when they need it, so I thought he was either unstable or somehow involved in Superhoodie’s plans; but apparently it’s all for naught. Feh. 

**Season 2, Episode 2**

• Nathan's my favourite character, but it's actually the Nathan-heaviest episodes that don't do it for me, personally - idk if it's because they tend to be separate from the group dynamic and focused on his family? 

Like, Robert Sheehan's clearly one of the cast members best equipped to handle the heavy lifting, acting-wise, but I think in some ways, that makes exposition a little redundant - they get across the characters relationship with his family, for example, without the need for much, so the episodes can be a little flabby on rewatch.  
I'd have been more interested in them developing the powers reversal for longer than getting Nathan's dad's POV, tbh – I mean, I’d hope for a reconciliation, but it’s not really essential, with the ABSO five being more of a found family. This episode is great and all, it just doesn’t particularly link in with the rest. 

• Line Most Glaringly Written By A Man is Lily the bartender describing herself as a ‘cold bitch’ for having ‘intimacy issues’. Especially since they're your classic 'issues that don't affect being a lust object' where she gets to do the classic 'snarky but secretly charmed' bit, or even better, apologise because her powers manifest when she's touched.  
(Obviously the touchee bears no responsibility, you'd need to be 'frigid' to object!) Her power reversal ends up killing her and Jamie, so I guess there's something to be said for being frigid, lol.  
But seriously, there's just something creepy in the whole literalisation of female sexual dysfunction being linked to being withholding and ‘bitchy’, and the way the last shot is of her unaware as Jamie mouths 'I'm fucking her' behind her back.

• Also a bit of development for Nathan and Simon prior to 2x3 – Superhoodie saves Nathan again, this time from Jamie’s burning car (foreshadowing for the Simon reveal – it’s Simon who tells Nathan ‘be careful!’, realising their powers reversing means he’s temporarily vulnerable to physical harm.)  
We’ve had hints previously that Simon is actually amused by Nathan, as much as feeding off their mutual dysfunctional attention kink, but here it’s confirmed – Nathan makes fun of Shaun, Simon can’t hide a smile, and Nathan is actually momentarily cowed a little by an almost healthy interaction, and they have an actual conversation.  
Simon’s confidence developing slowly in order to become Superhoodie is also influenced by his power reversal meaning he’s temporarily attractive to others, and while we don’t see this developed, it does begin Nathan viewing Simon as someone who could potentially be sexual (‘Was it just girls looking at you?’ ‘It was everyone.’ ‘We need to get you laid!’)  
We see Nathan as the male mirror of Alisha in some ways in this episode, nice preparation for their joining forces in 2x5 – where Alisha acts out masturbating with a joystick or giving a breathalyser a blowjob; here we have Nathan needing to create a diversion and deciding to ask three car thieves for a gangbang, kissing Simon while he’s wearing a gas mask, and performing a striptease on the roof. (Hilariously, we see Kelly leering happily, Curtis and Alisha horrified, and Simon fascinated and unable to look away.) 

**Series 2, Episode 3**

• This episode is a game of two halves, you’ve got the tattoo plot on one side, which is a killer concept (albeit a bit Tales from the Crypt) and ba-da-bum, actually advances character development; and Superhoodie’s reveal on the other – double your Simon, double your pleasure? Idk. 

I’m not opposed to the Superhoodie reveal in itself, it’s not like there was another candidate I’d prefer, but I feel like it could have been far more explored. Maybe that’s S3’s fault rather than S2, which pretty much narrows down all speculation and limits the timeline of ‘woooo the future’ to ‘uh, next year’, but there just seems like there could have been potential for story that was either rushed or limited to the Alisha/Simon pairing. 

As a pairing, it could work – you have two characters which don’t seem initially similar at all, but actually share ambiguities. Both can be caring and protective, but also disregard others free will if it conflicts with their desires.  
But in practice, it softens Alisha into a far more generic figure (here, she’s at least active – pursuing Superhoodie, trying to get to know Normal!Simon, rediscovering her sexuality. Once they’re a couple, she’s pretty much doomed to be the support act who only reacts to Simon’s choices.) and the reveal that it’s a relationship stuck in a permanent loop limits Superhoodie/Simon from heroism into masochism.  
There’s a real darkness potential in the predetermined plotline, imho – Alisha can never really consent to a relationship which she basically seems incepted into. (She never shows interest in him until she’s basically told repeatedly that their falling in love is inevitable, and that he’s the only man who can touch her.)  
It’s also pretty bleak on Simon’s side – Alisha uses her knowledge of meeting Superhoodie to manipulate him into selling his powers by telling him that his future self told her to; it’s repeatedly stated that it’s Alisha’s love that makes him become Superhoodie, but also that she wouldn’t love him until his Future!Self is not an option; and their first sex is unsatisfactory for both because he isn’t as yet as confident as his future self. 

There’s also the reliance on the geek guy/hot girl (somehow male writers will keep draining that well…) but in a way that actually shows how little personal connection there is. 

I mean, Curtis/Alisha wasn’t exactly love’s young dream, but you get the sense that neither had any illusions about each other. 

You could easily make an argument for Simon and Alisha to have things in common outside of physical attraction (or to just accept that that was enough – Simon never came across as particularly picky about company. In fact, you could argue there’s a similar element to his friendship with Nathan, and previously Matt, where he can tolerate any amount of insults from a pretty boy. And a neat parallel there with Superhoodie’s wall of photos, the corner of which is devoted to dozens of shots taken of Alisha unawares; and the DVD Simon gives Kelly, full of the shots he’s filmed of Nathan.) 

But here you have a scene with Present!Simon and Alisha where, provoked by meeting Superhoodie, she approaches Simon for the first time to speak to him one on one. On the surface it seems very sweet (she apologises if she’s ever been a bitch, he shows insight about how people don’t look beneath looks) but in actuality, Simon’s demonstrating his own point. 

Instead of any consideration of their previous interactions, which haven’t been particularly great (‘Have you been wanking over me?!’) he basically says ‘No, you couldn’t be a bitch, you’re a pretty girl, there must be more to you.’ He’s literally the person who isn’t looking beneath her looks. 

Curtis in actuality knew her better and set clear boundaries within their relationship. 

• On the tattoo side, you had me at homo-eroticism (‘I watched Jerry Maguire four times last night’), so I was gonna love this plot, but it is actually surprisingly character advancing for a ‘love spell’ plot. It creates a great contrast between Superhoodie and his soft-filter sex shenanigans with Alisha, and the awkwardness of Current!Simon. It also creates the opportunity for Simon to be the hero (‘they’re DRY-ROASTED!’ ‘So butch!’) and shifts the balance between him and Nathan – he’s now confident enough to tease Nathan (‘You don’t love me anymore, then?’), and from this stage onwards, there’s real affection between them. 

Nathan’s also hard not to warm to, if for nothing else than his shamelessness (‘Does nothing embarrass you?’ ‘Not really.’)  
The gender issue was unlikely to bother him in particular – we know from 2x7 he’s been with at least one guy, and his no-homo reaction is hilariously subdued (‘Ah, I’m about 98% certain.’) He’s quicker to assert that if he and Simon had had sex that Simon would have enjoyed it than anything else. 

(Interesting on a Freudian level that this is the episode that torpedoes Kelly and Nathan once and for all, though.)

The plot also sidesteps the risk of homophobia pretty neatly – it’s Nathan’s joking about looking a ‘bit gay’ that prompts Vince’s choice of tattoo, plus the need to remove him from the competition for Kelly (although bit of a goof why he didn’t just…tattoo Kelly first?) Kelly’s pretty insistent on binary definitions, but then, her concern is also motivated by defending Simon from what she thinks is teasing.

 **Season 2, Episode 4**

• Kelly for MVP! Love her approach to men – she’s not asking for the world here, people, but craziness is what happens ‘if blokes spend all their time playing video games and wanking’. 

It’s also her that takes the role of self-sacrificial one in this episode, quick to suggest ‘We should go back for (Ollie)!’ but also to tell Nikki to run. 

• Not keen on Superhoodie’s plot being resolved one episode after his reveal, but that’s the problem of introducing powers that overrule the plot. There’s no reason for any of them to die, so when they need to kill off characters, they have to go to ‘Um, it’s the future, time travel loops, bye!’ or ‘But I didn’t think my power of time travel would ever be useful!’ or ‘IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY!’ 

• The bank robbery also means the Xmas special looks even stupider, as they’ve just introduced a foolproof way to get money without sacrificing anything. 

• Character development wise, Nathan and Kelly are still bff post their awkward encounter – he panics when she’s taken (‘Do something, you little freak!’) although he’s also the only one distracted during her kidnapping by the game.  
This also shows how Current Simon is slowly shifting into a leadership role (despite his inability to slide a briefcase) by it being him Nathan expects to do something. (Although he still caves pretty quickly, buying Nathan a drink on demand.)

 **Season 2, Episode 5**

• Vod! Zawe Ashton!!! Weird to see her as the posh virginal girl after Fresh Meat and St Trinians. She’s adorable, although this is a bit of a retread, being like the third episode where someone’s in love with Simon. 

I was kind of hoping she was a black widow just to give her something to do other than Fulfill the Prophecy of Simon losing his V card; but alas, her sexist plot was more about having a creepy father. (I feel like at this point, a non sexist plot is clearly way too much to ask.) 

This is layered upon by how obviously we’re supposed to see her as some kind of key to aiding Simon’s confidence rather than as any kind of realistic character. I mean, there’s some dark implications there about her relationship with her dad, for a start, and yet the resolution is ‘Well, he’s in jail! Poor Simon, I guess they can’t date now!’

Negativity aside, I love this episode. It breaks up the groups a little, for a start – we’ve had a lot of focus on which couples get together, but the subplot of Nathan and Alisha teaming up is possibly the only episode where Alisha’s interacting with someone on a basic level outside of a relationship, and it’s quality.  
(She even gets to be active!! And save someone!) 

• Alisha and Nathan are now both fully sweet on Simon (‘Maybe I like him more than I let on!’ ‘Well, maybe I do, too.’ ‘Little bastard gets under your skin, doesn’t he?’) It’s cute, not just the focus on two characters who rarely interact (again, maybe because they’re too alike – Nathan can be slow on the uptake, but he instantly recognises that Alisha has a thing for Simon, and they share a rueful reaction shot when Jessica kisses him.) but also because they’re put in the same position – they’re used to Simon being the geek and themselves as the objects of envy, and this episode completely shifts their self-perceptions.  
Alisha finds herself tagging after Simon and awkwardly talking to him.  
Likewise, Nathan is stung a little at Simon now being the one to make fun (his affectionate ‘you annoy people’), defend himself (‘Maybe you’re jealous’? Interesting that Nathan immediately relates this not to envy over the Jessica relationship, even though he’s repeatedly said how ‘cute’ she is; but about how not-attractive Simon is, omg, not only in this scene but also with his mocking apology ‘I’m sure your…dead eyes get the girls going?’, calling back the shark comparison in 2x3) and even pity Nathan (‘I’m sure you’ll find your own girlfriend.’) However, on the reveal that Jessica isn’t dangerous and that Simon slept with her, Nathan is genuinely pleased for Simon, and demands details.

• Kelly gets the honour of the best pairing with Bruno, however. I probably found Kelly and Bruno more endearing than either Curtis/Nikki, Curtis/Alisha or Alisha/Simon – idk what that says more about, the writing or me? I just want good things for Kelly, and with Bruno you have a guy who’s thoughts are genuinely sweet.  
One of the 'Fantastic Beasts' reviews summed up Queenie as ‘a mind-reader who can see into the male brain and somehow still finds dudes delightful’, which is pretty much more realistically embodied in Kelly. No wonder she has trust issues. Bruno is adorable, he’s not worshipful or cloying, he’s just genuinely into her, and when he gets rough, it’s as disappointing to the audience as Kelly. Yay, sex-with-a-gorilla. (Please don’t quote that out of context if I, idk, become Pope or something.)

 **Season 2, Episode 6**

• Milk man! This one’s great, broadens the world out with the introduction of other people with powers and the concept of earning money for them. 

It also focuses on them not for their varying usefulness but how well they come across on screen. 

Of the Misfits, only Nathan has a power he can happily show off – Alisha’s is useless from a public relations standpoint, Curtis and Kelly’s are difficult to demonstrate, and Simon’s is defined by how not visible it is. But their powers are still glamorous or powerful enough to qualify them as of interest, unlike Brian’s; and yet he could pretty much destroy them all. 

It’s a clever twist, and it strengthens the plot, not just by resolving a baseline issue like ‘Why don’t they just do this for profit?’ with a better answer than say, 'Buffy'; but also because you can only use the time reversal so many times before it becomes a lazy device, so this really earns it – rocks fall, everyone dies!  
Kelly’s ghost appearing and Simon’s discovery of Nathan in particular are genuinely chilling, and it’s everyone’s deaths that prompt Simon to put on the hoodie for the first time and sacrifice himself so that Curtis can rewind time and also demonstrate his super power of being lactose intolerant.

• (Although the ghost bit, along with the medium power in general, is so blatantly contrived. I think TV tropes fanwanked that Nathan had to see the person die, as Jamie and Ollie are the only others to appear until this point, but obviously he doesn't see Kelly die, and yet... 

I guess Kelly asked Ghost!Alisha to tag along and she was like ‘Uh…we're not friends!' 

And brilliantly, it's not even like she gets to do anything other than literally say that she's a ghost. Jamie has a whole ghost plan and girlfriend; Ollie doesn't engage because he doesn't gaf, but Kelly just says she’s dead. You'd think she'd at least say 'Tell Curtis to rewind time!' or 'Do not come to the hotel to get killed along with everyone else we know!'

• Pairings wise, Simon finds out about Superhoodie from following Alisha, after she accidentally reveals something that he told her, so the Simon/Alisha pairing takes another step towards fruition. Bleh. 

(ETA: rewatching for vidding purposes, so here's some additional blather: 

2x6 doesn't quite work – I discuss Simon/Alisha and the lack of Curtis and Kelly down the page, but Nathan-wise this one’s pretty bizarre. 

There’s a lot of comic shenanigans with his STD - Nathan, like Alisha, seems to get smacked down for casual sex: Nathan obviously has the bizarre episode with Ruth where he apologises for…idk, being lied to? Alisha has her power punishing her for sex, although ironically, the behaviour behind it for both is excused. Curtis forgives her instantly for raping him, anything post S2 gets the ‘I’m not that person anymore!’ bit.)  
Likewise, here they’re hitting really hard on the ‘Nathan has sex with drunk girls’, even reusing the same joke at least twice – as well as a line about jailbait that just sounds like it came from a middle-aged writer (I feel like early twenties is probably a little premature to be throwing ‘barely legal’ girls around as a ‘fuck you’ to Kelly.) Obviously he gets his comeuppance within the plot for the sleeping around with the STD, but he faces no real consequences (unusually – Nathan and Curtis seem to be the characters that face the more permanent repercussions for their actions. Curtis out of choice by sacrificing for others, but generally Nathan’s the next character likely to: his actions to Simon and Kelly for example, have pretty swift consequences unlike say, Simon or Alisha’s behaviours to others, which are handwaved as in the past.)  
He forces Daisy to touch him, and gets away not only with what he thinks is his culpability in her death (the fact Brian would have killed her regardless isn’t known to the characters at this point) but also rewarded by this brief touch curing him.  
The drunk girl thing is especially gross, too, as we also have the sexist stereotype of the gold-digging groupie with Brian’s girlfriend, so it’s not like they’re giving women any credit by saying they’d need to be drunk to spend time with crass Nathan. In fact, they only ever get described as ‘skanky’ and ‘dirty bitch(es)’.  
(It’s also weird in general – are we suppose to believe Nathan rarely gets laid? Because Rudy’s pretty much his parallel but times ten, and he’s apparently fucked 99 women.  
Whereas Nathan’s a real mix of contradictions – he’s apparently hypersexual to the point of sleeping with people outside his stated gender preferences, and the others seem to consider him attractive if not likeable – Simon looks stung at Nathan comparing their appearances, Kelly’s insecure that he could get better-looking girls - and Simon takes his sex advice in 2x7 and it’s successful; but then again, we get this shocked reaction when he does get laid and he’s constantly referring to how he’ll need alcohol/cash/fame in order to persuade women. 

There’s an equally mixed approach here to his plan for fame – we begin with Nathan the most enthused about celebrity, although he agrees with Alisha when she suggests it’s hollow; but there doesn’t seem to be any real acknowledgement of his being willing to essentially self-harm for the sake of an audience. 

It’s odd, especially in light of the show seeming to draw a line against profiting for powers; which conflicts not only with Nathan doing so to no ill effects (he gets hurt by Brian, but it’s not as if this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t shot himself) but also generally – in S3 powers are constantly bartered and traded, and murders covered up. Simon suggests the powers weren’t given to them for profit, but goes on to cave and sell his own (as well as eventually purchasing the concealing power in order to ‘make’ Alisha fall in love.) So the line of ‘no financial gain!’ seems pretty arbitrary. (Not to mention…surely someone would come forward at some point? There are signs everywhere about powers in the Xmas episode.)

All this ‘we should have listened’ is also weird when actually Simon doesn't turn out to be any more correct than the others. In the Xmas episode at least, he argues for a particular action, here he just...skips the parties. Notices Brian momentarily? He’s probably the least active up until the unnecessary sacrifice, and actually, very little the Misfits do has much affect on the plot. It could be suggested that Nathan’s behaviour towards Brian gives him a motive, but it’s pretty tenous – he’s killing anyone who’s more successful than him as well as anyone who’s crossed him; so whatever they did, they were probably going to be on his shit list. The writers seemed to be implying risk from the public themselves via Simon (‘everyone's going to find out and everything will change’, ‘that's what people do (come after us)’, ‘they’ll experiment on us!’) that never materialised. 

Simon/Alisha rush from a tacit sweet friendship to once again iconography and symbols over characterisation. (Funnily enough despite breaking up, Curtis and Alisha are still often framed together in late S2 and S3 – you’d never know Nikki existed from S3, whereas Curtis and Alisha’s relationship is referred to frequently.) Here, we get a lot of Simon hugging her body (hilariously, they also shot a prettier promo without the cheese around her mouth) to parallel with 2x4, but interaction-wise, not enough to warrant the dramatic pieta.  
I feel like we're supposed to go 'oh, Alisha's changed from the 2 eps before where she vaguely expressed interest in fame', but actually Alisha seems perfectly content at the party and eating canapes, or at least as satisfied as the others; they give her no screen-time to legitimise her dissatisfaction other than they need a reason for her to mention Superhoodie to alert Simon. There’s also no consistency to Superhoodie’s insistence that she not tell Simon, giving that she does to no negative consequences, which adds to the strain on the conceit (along with his promise to not ‘let’ her die, and the big drama Superhoodie pulls about how he ‘risked his life’ travelling through time, which we see in S3 is also bullshit.) 

Curtis and Kelly are even more minimalised. You can get away with this with Kelly as she has no bearing on plot (nothing Kelly or Alisha do matters in any finale, basically) but it's super lazy to also ignore Curtis until it’s time to save everyone. He doesn't even get a scene discovering Nikki.

• As for Simon and Nathan: I feel like the subtext is pretty canon at this point. This episode has literally multiple scenes to choose from in which Nathan shows Simon his dick or Simon watches him pee (I guess he wants to piss on everybody’s tits?) They’re sharing a room (for totally non-contrived reasons, u guises, srsly! In a hotel where they’re being comped anyway) and probably the bed for warmth etc.  
Nathan gets an STD from his meaningless hetero shenanigans, tells Simon who for some reason is also in his pants, before they sit around getting drunk, stroking hands, and talking about how if anyone, no-one in specific, just anyone who happened to be in the room, wanted, the cock's all totes fine now, honest, while hiding from Alisha. (Who knew to go there first to find him, natch.) The last scene of finishing community service is Simon telling the others how meeting them was the best experience of his life, before they exit on Nathan slapping Simon's ass, with Simon smiling adoringly back at him. 

**Season 2, Episode 7**

• Ooooh, the Christmas episode. Got some warranted criticism, it’s pretty shonky, but there’s charm there. 

It’s pretty much the beginning of the end in terms of the S3 reboot of adding Rudy, Nathan leaving, and the switching powers, but if you look at it outside of it’s long-term effects and pretend it’s a finale, it improves. (Although not as much as ending on 2x6, tbh.) 

• I think the problem is the swiftness of the multiple plot resolutions. In S1, you have a fairly clean resolution – the baddies are introduced, team are saved, but at the cost of one.

Here you have a time jump, and suddenly it’s all over the place – Jesus/Edward is established as a villain, powers can be bought and sold, Marnie’s introduced, Nikki’s killed off, Marnie’s baby is born…  
Jesus would be fine, but following an episode with a villain like Brian makes Big J an anti-climax. There’s no danger to the Misfits from him specifically beyond his using Alisha’s power on her briefly, and it’s hard to sympathise with the Misfits when they’re all irredeemably stupid, even by their own standards.  
I could buy Alisha selling her power, obviously, and Kelly’s isn’t used enough for her to be particularly wedded to it, especially as it’s detrimental to her self-esteem. Simon’s easily persuaded, albeit aided by Alisha telling him it was predestined that he should. And Nathan’s the one least likely to consider consequences of anything.  
But Curtis’ power literally has just saved every single person he knows from being murdered, repeatedly. 

• The power selling is also really contrived as a concept – the previous powers were linked to individual characters, trading for new ones is just dramatically less interesting. Jesus also defeats himself, apparently not thinking to buy, oh, idk, immortality. 

• Nikki gets fridged. She wasn’t a character I found particularly compelling (how do you waste the one member of the cast who goes on to Oscar nominations?! Oh, Misfits.) but it’s bullshit that she basically gets to make everyone realise the foolishness of selling their powers rather than getting any kind of emotional resonance. Apparently she and Curtis was serious enough to plan to go travelling together, but he gets the barest of reactions, and by next season, Nikki’s never mentioned again.  
(PS. No reaction from Curtis to the fact that the shooter was aiming at Nathan until Simon warns him and he ducks, indirectly causing Nikki to get shot? I feel like that might have gotten awkward, somehow.) 

• Shipping wise…Simon and Alisha are apparently officially dating, although he’s concerned about his sexual prowess – this could be really interesting with the powers removal, like a mistrust that once he’s no longer her only option and her power is gone, will she love him?  
Or on her side a possible dissatisfaction, like, was her relationship with Superhoodie even real, considering their basis for a relationship is shagging and inevitability?  
Now she’s watching Simon change, has he changed enough?  
Or has she changed, and discovered a side of herself that she never considered before?  
But instead it’s Austin Powers level: ‘Was me better than me?!’ that's resolved, as all Simon and Alisha's problems seem to be, by extended shagging.

• I did like Simon asking Nathan for sex advice, though – half convinced that’s just a gambit: 'Maybe you could show me…’ etc. considering Simon’s personally experienced Nathan’s terrible kissing. 

(And how quickly did Nathan jump from Simon's self-effacing 'I think I'm probs shit in bed' to 'It's probably her! She's not even that pretty anyway, omg!') It’s also cute that Marnie instantly recognises ‘Barry’ who she’s ‘heard loads about’ (after one day!)

• The Marnie subplot is also ridiculously swift, but actually the only one that works for me.  
The actress is adorable, with enough charm to pretty much convince you to like her, and the pairing, despite poor Nathan Junior being in the care of two people who literally bond over ‘pissing and shitting’ themselves ‘all the time’.  
Her and Nathan’s conversation is a bit meta and on the nose about how similar they are, but they sell the rush since the baby’s due, and it works with the Finn episode as previous form.


	3. S3

**S3**

Ohhh...really lost interest here. I know some people made it to the last season, but this one was a trial, and where I quit. 

ETA: Nah, I didn't, caved and watched the last two series. I actually found Rudy worked better for me away from the original group, his sudden closeness to them didn't feel earned because they had pre-existing relationships that got disregarded (so instead of having say, Kelly and Simon interact anymore, we get Kelly/Rudy and Rudy/Simon scenes) or characterisations got ignored (his and Curtis' little bromance in S4 is cute, but really, Curtis is literally the last character I could see finding Rudy tolerable.); but we did at least have the S4/5 characters all begin at an even footing which made it feel more organic. 

Jess and Abbey were great (in fact, I'd argue that Jess was probably one of the better written female characters of the show's run - although tbh, that isn't saying much.) Finn and Alex, not so much. But imo, the show would have been best ending at S2.6, the last two series really showed a lack of new ideas (as evidenced by the repeated themes from earlier series: long-lost siblings, disconnected fathers, adopted babies...) and the sexism and homophobia got dialed up to 11 (the power to 'pussy whip', hypnotic tits, the 'rape' power, the power to manifest 'in the closet'.)

The new powers in S3 are literally a plot basket – oh, you need a power that turns a carnival backwards? Let’s crack out my ~~carnival reversal spray~~ power!  
They’re also more useless than the original ones – I mean, they were always skating on thin edge with how not to write themselves into a corner by overusing powers for everything, but the solution isn’t never use them. You could have done something really interesting with them - Kelly could have tapped into her inferiority complex and need to prove herself; Alisha's too could have dug into her character (if there was anyone who needed to see things from someone else's point of view...), and the fact that Simon's is useless when he and his friend's lives are in danger, but crops up to save Rudy's cock is beyond a joke.

There are some great grace notes, mainly with the interactions of the core remaining four, but I think the best S3 episode is clearly inferior to the worst S1 or S2 episode (fight me on the gorilla one!) 

This season introduces Rudy and Seth the power dealer. 

**Seth…**

I want to like him, he’s handsome, and I like most Kelly pairings, but I feel like the actor was pretty limited (crestfallen face, dead girlfriend, sigh, offer power, repeat.) 

It’s really painful in the episode where they introduce his zombie girlfriend who’s a far better actor, I was like ‘OMG, a Seth plot that’s interesting!’ but he was the drag in his own subplot. 

The powers selling thing seemed to vary between villainous in the beginning (conning the Misfits, selling the lust power etc. to ‘Jesus’) to him suddenly realising it was dodgy when Kelly told him; but they rely on it enough that I just feel like it was a concept too big to really work. 

(It’s like the Quicksilver character in X-Men, once you’ve introduced him, none of the plot works because he could literally just resolve everything.) 

**Rudy** …idk, he’s marmite, really? 

You’re either charmed by him or you’re not, and his power pretty much means you get him on overload. 

He never really clicked for me although I know there were commenters etc. who felt he was a deep character off the bat. The actor’s great, it just seems like he never got established within the group so much as he was introduced as a lone standout lead. 

He also increases the blokey sexism hugely. 

His introduction is basically how Alisha caused him to feel suicidal by sleeping with him and ignoring him afterwards. While she defends herself, her scenes with both him and Simon after, including apologising, seem to underline that she did bear responsibility for his mental state, which seems hugely unfair, particularly when Rudy constantly sleeps with women and dumps them afterwards in a far more malicious manner than Alisha ever did. I don't care for Alisha at times, especially since she rarely takes responsibility for her actions and projects onto other people (her catchphrases pretty much being 'It's not my fault/there's nothing wrong with me/this is bullshit!') but it does come off as if mistreating a man is way worse than mistreating a woman - I doubt we'd see Alisha, or any other character for that matter, going to the point of seeking him out to apologise and smiling hugely at his survival for a female character.

(That, and her conversation with Simon, while probably the deepest those two ever share, seems fairly gendered - she's ashamed of her promiscuous past, he offers that his own past is embarrassing because he was a virgin. I mean, it's a sweet connection, and while I don't care for the ship, I'd see it as one of their stronger moments, but it does play into the traditional ideals that men should be embarrassed of virginity and women should be embarrassed of having sexual experience.)

People compared Rudy to Nathan as he was replacing Sheehan, but I feel for all Nathan’s irritating characteristics, he wasn’t as actively misogynistic as Rudy. 

There was grossness about sleeping with girls when they’re drunk ‘before they sober up’, etc. but generally when Nathan was sexist, it was usually shown as a defensive mechanism that actively damaged his relationships (every time he argued with Kelly, for example) or was lampshaded as hypocrisy (‘one of the three girls I had sex with last night in the club had very poor personal hygiene!’) whereas his actual behaviour with women was mostly catching feelings pretty quickly.

Also, all three of the original male Misfits also experienced some kind of sex or sexual activity without their consent too, and while it wasn’t necessarily treated with any gravitas (any more than it was with the girls, tbh), it wasn’t necessarily presented as something that only happens to girls, either – Alisha forces Curtis to have sex in S1. Lucy uses her power on Simon. Ruth sleeps with Nathan, fully aware that he’s not consenting to her ‘true’ self. Neither Nathan nor Simon consent to their kiss in 2x3, since it’s power-related. 

Rudy on the other hand is like…Season 1!Simon level without the sympathy. Every episode is literally him flat out saying he doesn’t understand consent (‘Having sex with someone while they’re asleep is rape.’ ‘Is it?!’), or eating out Melissa/Curtis while she’s drugged (even though he doesn’t like cunnilingus, naturally), or ‘nothing’s better than a teary fuck’ or reacting to a refusal of sex with: ‘You smell like vomit!’ Naturally, his crime was losing his temper and attacking his ex girlfriend's car.

Him also being older than the rest of the cast compounds this – the age of the characters isn’t mentioned, but we can presume they’re probably late teens/early twenties at the beginning of the series from the context of their lives (Simon’s a virgin, Nathan’s just left home, Curtis was beginning his career) and that judging by how long community service lasts, that they’re not much older now.  
Joe Gilgun is my age (lol, come sit with me in the OAP spot!) which would be 27 when this season was released; and unlike the rest of the cast, he looks it. Isn’t over the hill, but it creates a bit of a scoff when he’s like ‘We’re just kids!’ (Although that’s meta-level, since apparently we’re supposed to buy that he and Alisha went to college together) and it’s harder to feel sympathetic for the whole youthful hedonism thing when you’re pushing thirty and people are having to explain rape to you. Nope!

 **Kelly wise** …idk, she doesn’t get to do much, really, apart from get a new catchphrase? 

I’d have liked it if they’d kept her linked to the group more as I loved her mama bear moments, rather than being farmed out with Seth. I hoped for more interaction with Alisha, but they pretty much kept to failing the Bechdel test and instead using Kelly as the cheerleader for Simon/Alisha. (Including calling Melissa/Curtis a slut, nice.)

She’s not bad in the coma episode, but as we never saw Jen before, it didn’t really give Lauren Socha much to work with in terms of acting – a body swap with one of the already established characters would have been way more interesting. 

**Curtis** actually gets his own episode, and while it’s no 1x4, it’s probably the most interesting apart from the finale, focusing on his power of changing gender. (Kinda sucks for Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, though – like, here, have a plot! Where you’ll be played by another actor!) 

It’s…idk, it’s not as bad as it could have been? Curtis was the male character that displayed the least misogyny, so it’s an odd choice for it to be him that’s framed as needing to learn what being a woman is about; which apparently is a 24/7 hellscape of harassment which can only be escaped by having a penis. 

I guess it’s better than ‘I don’t know what this crazy feminazis are talking about, sexism doesn’t exist!’ but it does seem a little like we need constant rape threats because anything less would idk…be moaning? I mean, Curtis got raped in S1 by Alisha, I feel like this is going backwards in terms of nuance to have a moustache twirling villain drugging women as if anything less than premeditated repeated rape isn’t really serious. Especially when in the same episode, you have Rudy joking about consent, which furthers the dissonance - rape is an awful crime, punishable by hanging the guy up medieval style (which, uh...doesn't stop him doing it again at all, but makes for a dramatic set-piece), unless it's a character we like (Simon, Nathan, Alisha, and Rudy) in which case it's forgivable or comedy fodder.

It's a shame, because we do see the difference in how Melissa is treated than Curtis (Curtis getting ready to go out becomes Melissa 'sticking (her) arse in (Simon's) face and jiggling (her) tits'; Melissa complaining instantly gets a patronising 'Got an attitude, I see!'; Kelly, Emma and Alisha all call Melissa a slut in a way they would never dream of to Curtis) but it's all framed through 'What if feminism, but affecting men?' with no real resolution. Rudy, Shaun and the girls' attitudes don't really alter, although Kelly offers to help Melissa at least. (Here it might have been nice to see Alisha reaching out, but she seems particularly divorced from the body in comparison to Kelly, despite Alisha having far more sexual experience.) Curtis is a more sensitive partner presumably from his experiences, but it was contrived to have him being the rudeboy in the first place, so...

(There’s also the cringe-y ‘You’re on your period!’ bit in reaction to him yelling.) 

Two interesting issues come up as well that are never really delved into – one in which he makes himself pregnant (paging Red Dwarf), to which Alisha offers ‘There are options’ (you can say ‘melonfucker’ but not ‘abortion’ on TV, apparently), Curtis/Melissa scowls, and…the whole thing is erased by Seth the Power Fairy’s magic wand. 

Also there’s the whole issue of Melissa competing against women, which you’d think might come up, considering Curtis is dating a fellow runner, and has relevancy with the whole debate around transwomen in sport, but instead Fellow!Runner Love!Interest (who was also in Fresh Meat, playing almost exactly the same Cool Girl) gets to be the kind of lesbian created in a lab for male audiences (e.g. she’s totes bi in the exact right amount – enough to fuck Curtis in both forms, but not in any way that might be threatening or part of her identity. I’m surprised they didn’t play ‘I Kissed A Girl’ over it.) 

I like this episode the best of s3, and a high point is also the interactions between the core four. Alisha has possibly her best moment of the season imitating Curtis and there is at least some kind of character development for him – he’s a difficult one I think, because he’s at a remove from the others. 

Simon you can use in different situations because he’s a people pleaser, Kelly’s compassionate enough to push people into revealing stuff, and Nathan and Alisha both have to get a reaction from people; but Curtis’s lack of tolerance for bullshit also means it’s harder to get him to react at all, which gets pinpointed really well when Alisha calls him self-obsessed. 

It’s also good to see him interacting with the others, the reliance on the Nikki/Curtis, Simon/Alisha parallel plots in S2 meant it pulled him further from group; whereas here we get real dynamics at play – him venting to Simon, Alisha and him playing foosball, etc, Simon referring to his and Alisha’s past, etc. 

This is also the only episode in which a character gets much in the way of development (Rudy doesn't qualify, he's new) - Kelly's big episode is when she's under a spell, ditto Simon's, the Hitler episode is obviously an AU... He's split off from the group again, which is a shame, but it explores his flaws and gifts; and he's active in a way no other character is in S3.

 **The finale episode** is most memorable, but that’s nostalgia, really. 

I was concerned with the whole Sally thing that they were going to play it straight and have her in love with Simon, so I was glad when she was playing him once again. (Player’s gotta play!) 

I feel like she’s another character you either loathe or not, but I personally don’t mind her – she’s pretty much the heroine stuck in the wrong show. She mindfucks Simon, but at the end of the day, she didn’t really have any options left.

IDK, I kind of liked her and Tony, I dunno why, I loved them being including in the flashbacks in 1x4, and I loved their reunion here. I think I found it genuinely more touching than most of the pairings – you feel for Tony, unaware that Sally had died, and he ‘owns his own shit’ about his temper, which is more than most of the characters do. 

(Alisha’s defense didn’t really do it for me – I think it works better to just have everyone be basically a little amoral or crazy in a blackly comic crapsack world than get into who-deserved-what; but you can’t really go with ‘Poor Simon, Sally hurt his feelings!’ or ‘You were trying to kill us!’ as a legit defense. With Tony, sure, they had no choice, but generally every one of the Misfits is at least as mammoth an asshole as the villains, that’s the joke, lampshaded in: ‘We never hurt anyone!’ 'We killed loads of people.’ ‘But we’re the good guys!’) Especially in this season, which is pretty much the end of treating characters deaths with any kind of seriousness, and which almost every episode results in someone getting murdered. 

**Rachel**

…idk, I feel like they wasted Jessica Findlay-Brown. 

This episode is really the one where they needed Nathan specifically - the editing on the ‘previouslys’ is hilarious, they’ve literally trimmed the scene so carefully, like ‘We need to remind everyone who this girl is, but not show He Who Shall Not Be Named’ down to like, a fuzzy shot of her falling off a building. 

Having her return for her unfinished business and it being revenge (besides being really kind of a bleak resolution, overall – I’ve seen people say that she misreads Rudy’s suggestion, but it does seem like no, she really couldn’t move on by anything positive, it has to be murder, which when you think about it, is…well, an odd message.) could work without it being Nathan if they established any kind of motive, but it’s literally ‘I have to kill someone, byeee!’ 

They established a motive for Sally to kill Alisha, if they’d given that to Rachel, it still kicks the Superhoodie plot into gear, it’s just a little less random. It's also been suggested that some people read Rachel's initial fall as being down to Simon possibly pushing her; which could have been another potential motive for attacking Alisha or Simon.

It’s also weird since this episode states that there’s no god (I'd have liked to see a reaction from Curtis and Kelly who wear massive crucifixes, but aside from ghost sex, I don't think they got to do anything this episode), but there’s clearly some kind of resolution to death – the ghosts or souls or whatever need to achieve some kind of rest, and there’s the old ‘light enveloping them’, but you’re never really clear on whether they were aware of death prior to their return, or what awaits them, if anything, once they’re gone.

**Simon and Alisha wise…**

Simon is probably my second favourite character in this season (Curtis is first), he doesn’t get as much to do as previous ones – they try with him and Rudy and that nascent friendship, but it’s really just him playing the straight man, there’s no sense of any kind of bond, which was really key in S1 and S2. The Simon/Nathan friendship was much closer than either of them were to Curtis, and easily the most important to Simon after Alisha, so there’s kind of a gap there, especially since he’s pretty much ‘normal’ised. 

I love the little weird moments ('He should try ginger biscuits!’ or ‘She has period pains. Very bad ones.’) as well as the returns to him being the creepily self-possessed one (the bit where he’s smiling and reassuring Shaun as he bleeds out that he'll be fine, while insisting they can't call an ambulance...brr) 

The Sally plot is interesting, as it shows how Simon is almost as in love with destiny and his own myth making and journey and Winning The Girl as Alisha herself. It's Sally who leaves after their kiss, Simon's entirely passive as soon as he knows it's 'what he's supposed to do’.

Alisha is also passive throughout the season, although in the Peter episode she makes it pretty clear that she's for free will over determinism, and yet, the whole pairing resolves itself leaving her with no autonomy at all. She and Simon are also worryingly co-dependent in that episode in particular - Simon parallels Peter by being so excited by the fantasy of being a superhero that he disregards reality: 'It's like you're excited (about dying!)', while Alisha seems to have dropped her old life entirely in favour of her relationship (such as when she lies: 'I was gonna see some friends anyway!') Both of them seem insecure of the other's opinion of them - Simon defensively retorts 'I do have friends, you know', Alisha offers that 'even I know' (that Simon's travelling back in time will be to his death). Simon also seems hugely dependent on Alisha for his own self-image: he basically promises Peter that meeting a 'girl who likes you' will change his entire life (even more worryingly, saying 'you won't have to (steal from her)'. Like, we can sympathise with both Simon and Peter here as Curtis, Kelly and Alisha sneer at him; but at least Curtis and Kelly recognize how deluded the tactic of manipulating a girl into viewing you as a hero is. When Simon discovers he has broken up with Alisha under Peter's influence, he reacts unusually passively, sitting alone in the flat, staring at their Vegas photo. Upon her approach, he begs her desperately to reconsider, with the suggestion that he still views her as a fantasy figure rather than an equal partner ('I split up with you...Look at you...why would I do that? Please don't say no, please don't say no.') He also apologizes when Alisha comments neutrally on him ('You're doing your stare-y thing.' 'Sorry.') Alisha is aggressive at Simon having friends and even talking to Peter before Peter has behaved in any way strangely, telling him to leave, insisting 'He's not your friend!' While Peter views Simon's role as Superhoodie as important, and disregards his relationship with Alisha; Alisha likewise seems to view Simon as important only through the lens of their relationship ('he's not a superhero, he's my boyfriend!') Any attempts at dealing with the situation non-destructively (such as the concept of Simon's not dying in 2x4 or protecting Alisha by ending the relationship) are dismissed by the writers by Peter the villain voicing them. The storyline resolves with yet another murder, as Simon stabs Peter and Alisha exits, asking him to burn the body and his suit (lol, on a nitpicking note, I realise they wanted to parallel 2x4 here, but the factory is apparently far away enough that it requires a car to get to, so Alisha leaving separately so she can have a shower while Simon lights a body on fire seems kind of weird) with the story's conclusion on the suggestion that Simon and Alisha's relationship is still in some part due to manipulation, in this case Peter's, as his last drawing is revealed, showing them reuniting, while Simon breaks his promise to Alisha and hiding the suit. 

They have a small attempt at suggesting in the Nazi!timeline that they could perhaps be attracted to each other, although this is again, pretty much squeezing Alisha into a small set of options - she doesn't appear to have met Curtis, and she's pretty much being forced to sleep with Shaun, so it's not like 'I'd love you anywhere!' It's 'Wow, it’s good to meet a guy who's not a literal Nazi.'

You could even go for a more out-there ending like the Butterfly Effect where one of them basically pushes the other way in order to save them from the cycle – it seems as if Simon does have options. If he never 'makes' Alisha fall in love with him the first time, presumably her death (at least from Rachel) could be avoided; but he apparently needs to die heroically and be with Alisha more than he needs, say, her to live a longer life without him. 

And while Simon consents to their relationship and his own doom, knowing it can only end as an eternal loop of both of them dying; Alisha can never really consent.  
There was a great comment on the AV club: "Essentially, all of Superhoodie turned out to be a lie. Simon didn't go back to save Alisha, he went back so he could keep seeing her for a while, while also manipulate her into falling in love with him. It's creepy as fuck, and not the least bit heroic (more of a murder-suicide pact). Especially when Simon repeats "I'm going to make her fall in love with me."


End file.
